Chance: A Spenser Novel

Big-time Boston hoodlum Julius Ventura wants to find his only daughter's missing husband - at least that's how he puts it to Spenser and Hawk, even though its pretty clear that Julius isn't telling the whole truth. Or maybe not any part of the truth. Something about the case appeals to Spenser's passion for justice, and he launches an odyssey that takes the tough-but-tender duo with their penchant for literary allusions into the netherworld of organized crime.

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Publisher's Summary

Big-time Boston hoodlum Julius Ventura wants to find his only daughter's missing husband - at least that's how he puts it to Spenser and Hawk, even though its pretty clear that Julius isn't telling the whole truth. Or maybe not any part of the truth. Something about the case appeals to Spenser's passion for justice, and he launches an odyssey that takes the tough-but-tender duo with their penchant for literary allusions into the netherworld of organized crime.

From the throne room of crime lords to the Vegas strip, from two-bit wiseguys with a genius for dangerous liasions to gangster's molls in jeopardy, from larceny to homicide, Spenser and Hawk soon discover that what's at stake in this game is not an ardent groom and her blushing bride, but control of gangland Boston. Against the bright lights and seamy side streets of Las Vegas, they find themselves dead center in a circus of violence whose shadowy ringmaster is all too familiar.

This is a good story with a lot of action and mystery. Hawk and Susan are in the story, and that is alway a plus for me; however, the presentation is not at all good. Burt Reynolds does NOT do a good Spencer voice and the accents he uses for his other characters are just over the top. He also does NOT to a good Hawk. I really had a hard time listening to this audiobook - it was a chore to listen all the way through. The only reason it got a "2" instead of a "1" from me is because Robert Parker did his usual good writing job. Too bad Burt Reynolds ruined it.

Hire a different narrator. I read the hardback version of this book and was looking forward to listening to the audio version. I did not expect to be chronically irritated and distracted by Reynolds' phlegmy, gutteral, whiny versions of the voices...to the point that I removed my earplugs every time Jesse Ventura began to speak. Also, he mispronounced simple words in the text. What a shame. This is a terrific story that was ruined by a totally inept narrator.

What other book might you compare Chance to and why?

None.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Burt Reynolds was a charming actor, and I've heard him read one other Parker book. In the other novel, his voice didn't flummox me with its grating, unrealistic tone. In CHANCE the narration was so distracting that it was impossible to ignore its poor quality to listen to the story. It sounded as though he needed to clear his throat or nose. In addition, I resent the mispronunciation of words over and over again. Very unprofessional.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Chance?

I would edit every scene in which Shirley Ventura appears. The scene between Spenser and Shirley in a restaurant was overly long and painful to read, and her drunken, loutish behavior didn't contribute to the story.

I STILL enjoyed the book...Parker is a master at this sort of thing, and, like all Spenser novels, the book itself is a pleasure.
Burt Reynolds? That's more complicated. On the plus side, his voice has the sort of gravitas required to make a crime novel into a successful audiobook. Then there's the minus side; Reynolds continually, destroys the meaning of sentences by not understanding the syntax. He pronounces "moot", as in "it's a moot point", as "mute". All of this sort of stuff is annoying, especially in someone who is ostensibly an actor....but the voices are the worst...any blue collar character is invested with an accent that sounds straight from Alabama or Mississippi, which would be fine, except for the fact that the book is set in Boston. Occasionally, a character WILL start out with a Boston accent, but it always becomes a southern accent within 30 seconds or so. White collar characters all sound like the worst parody of an effete ivy leaguer. Hawk comes off okay, and Spenser, most erudite of PIs, is okay aside from often mispronouncing words.
In short, the reading is almost bad enough to destroy the enjoyment of the book, but not quite...still, given a choice, I'd much prefer listening to Joe Mantegna or Michael Pritchard, both of whom do Spenser justice.

Great work as usual by Robert B. Parker... But Burt Reynolds not so much! Mispronunciations on simple words and horrible voice quality! Production house Phoenix Audio did a poor job casting and producing.

I am a business owner, but don't much like books on business. Like English mysteries, cozies that aren't very cozy. I really want to like fantasy and science fiction but everything I try like that seems disappointing. I like some spy novels.
I am a grandmother and I am in a book club.

I dissed Burt Reynolds for his other readings, and this one makes me sorry.The ones I heard before sounded as if he were severely medicated, but this is Burt on his game, and it makes me wish he'd do more. You know, he never was just a pretty face.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

Not a very intricate story, but for me character is what I like best about Parkers' work.

Have you listened to any of Burt Reynolds’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

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